Each musician in the London Jazz Trio is a full time, freelance professional musician with extensive experince playing concerts, theatres shows, recording sessions and everything inbetween.
Being professional is more than about the music though. It’s being able to reply on the musicians to turn up on time and to be able to interact with the clients.
James trained classically in Piano & Clarinet and studied in Jazz at University. After gaining a degree in Music he taught Jazz piano at Middlesex University for a further 7 years.He has performed at Ronnie Scott’s, The London Palladium and worked with some of Britain’s greatest Jazz artists, including: Pete King, Alan Barnes, John Etheridge, Jim Mullen, Gerard Presencer, Stan Sulzmann, Derek Nash, Bobby Wellins, Rex Richardson, Mark Lockhart, Mick Hutton,Clark Tracey, London Musici, & Anita Wardell.James is a busy freelance musician as well as arranger & composer and has arranged for Sky TV, The Sugababes UK no1 single and Dance Producer David Gray. James is regularly in demand as pianist/MD for Sinatra style “Rat Pack” band, leading London’s best session musicians (Paul Morgan, Mike Smith, Jay Craig, Alan Barnes, Graham Russell, Bob Sydor, etc).
James currently has 3 piano books published by Trinity College Press and his compositions and arrangements are included in the current graded piano exams by Trinity.
Originally from Montreal in Canada, Eric Guy studied electric and acoustic bass with session musician Vic Angelillo, arranging with Christopher Smith and composition under Joe Sullivan.Early on in his career he made a mark in the Hip-Hop/RnB session scene, notably with El Verso, whose singles have been getting massive airplay.In the period between 2002 and 2007 Eric sailed the high seas for parts of the year, playing bass for the luxury cruise lines Celebrity and Crystal Cruises, culminating in his appointment as band master and musical director in 2006 on the Crystal Symphony.All the while, he continued to study privately with the likes of Rufus Reid, David Friesen and UK electric bass virtuoso Janek Gwizdala. His growing interest in composition and orchestration led him to delve deeply in the music of Schoenberg, Shostakovich, Mingus, and countless others, as well as completing a MIDI orchestration course under Ben Newhouse at Berklee College of music.Since moving to London in 2008, Eric Guy has been making his mark in both the Jazz and Pop scene, notably playing with Anton Browne, Mike Coates and Duncan Eagles in the jazz side of things, and with session ace Chris Madin (Strictly come dancing) and chart-topper DJ Ironik in the pop world.
Mike has played for many of the London Orchestras including the RPO, RPO Pops, National Symphony Orchestra and the BBC Concert Orchestra as well as working for Sadler’s Wells, the RSC and the National Theatre. He has also worked and recorded with many European Orchestras including the Prague Symphony Orchestra and the German NDR Radio Orchestra and Big Band.He has also worked, recorded and toured with many varied artistes including Petula Clark, Bette Midler, Tom Jones, Tony Hadley, Sasha Distel, Irene Cara, Bonnie Langford, Christal Gayle, Kiri Te Kanawa, Michael Ball, Lesley Garrett, Rick Astley, John Barrowman, Vanessa Mae, Sinitta, Luke Goss, Toyah Wilcox, Gareth Gates, Posh Spice, Freddie Mercury, Edwin Starr, Deniece Williams, Jimmy Ruffin, David Hasselhoff, Jerry Springer and Pamela Anderson. Jazz credits include Cleo Laine, Johnny Dankworth, Tina May, Claire Martin, Mica Paris, Kenny Ball, George Melly, Cy Coleman and Deana Martin.TV work includes the Laurence Olivier Awards, Evening Standard Awards, Parkinson, The Sound of Musicals, The Big Breakfast house band, Johnny Vaughan Tonight house band, Lily Savage Live house band, The National Lottery show with Brian Conley, The All Star Talent Show, An Audience with Harry Hill, Tonight Show with Jerry Anderson, Cold Feet, London’s Burning, The Rania show house band as well as many Childrens TV shows including Playschool, Blue Peter, Corners, Hilltop Hospital, Dramarama and The All Electric Amusement Arcade. Feature films include Bright Young Things directed by Stephen Fry and Number Ten. In addition, his playing has been heard on many TV and Radio adverts including Tennants Lager, Marmite, Land Rover, M&M’s, Cadbury’s, Heinz Beans and countless others.Many West End shows include Blues in the Night (Original Production and cast album), High School Musical (Original Production at Hammersmith Apollo), Fame, Rent, Guys and Dolls (National Tour and West End), 42nd Street (National Tour), Tell me on a Sunday (National Tour), Showboat (National Tour and West End), Five Guys named Moe (Original West End production), Personals (Original West End production), Annie Get your Gun and She Loves Me as well as depping on many more.
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